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March 2016

Fashion

Color me Confused

By Karen R. Smith

This being the March issue of Tucson Happenings, I was all set to discuss all
things green. Not in the sense of recycle/reuse, since I’d written on that
recently, but in the sense of the actual color green and its popularity in everything
from clothing to carpets.

I’d experienced the increased use of the color myself, so I felt confident
I could come up with a column. I remember being in a department store right here
in Tucson, where I’d found a really fabulous silk shirt in a green that made
me look positively bilious. I asked the salesperson to bring me the same shirt in
another color...and she said it was only in that noxious green.

Undaunted, I perused the racks for a while, and came to realize that suddenly,
green seemed to be everywhere. Slacks, bathing suits, jackets ­­ everything
seemed either olive green or a deeper khaki green, and there were lots of paler
greens to go with it all.

When an interior designer visited my parents’ home, she suggested that
using, “the organic greens” would bring the outside in. My Dad explained
that the outside could stay right where it was: outside.

Visiting with the rest of the family, I noticed that just about every one of
my younger nieces and nephews was wearing some version of green. While there was
something pleasing to me about the unisex quality of that, I still found myself
somewhat surprised. I could recall bright kelly greens in my kids’ wardrobes
back in the day, but not much else.

When a sister­in­law said she was changing her guest bedroom’s
colors,”because all the sheets I’ve been pining for seem to be green,”
I realized it had seeped into home decor too.

That sent me to the Internet, where I did a bit of color research. Blue, it turns
out, is the hands­down favorite color for most people in America. But green
had eclipsed it as people opted for exactly what that designer suggested to my father ­­
bringing the outside in, and giving a room a more serene and organic vibe.

What a particular color ‘says’ to you is part of the world of color
therapy. There have been interesting experiments to determine what color preferences
mean, and there are even companies that will help you choose your next career based
on what colors you like! Author Faber Birren has two dozen books out on the subject,
and he’s not the only writer in the field!

Yet I visited several kitchen and bath shows over the past 12 months, and there
was no green in sight. In fact, the overwhelmingly popular color for walls, cabinets,
tile and more seems to be gray. Looking at the available research, I learned that
people who prefer gray tend to be middle­of­the­road types, who willingly
compromise and tend towards the conservative.

Certainly, gray appears to be entering the mainstream right now; the question
is, will it stay there?

Pantone researches everything that’s going on in fashion and industry and
comes out with a ‘color of the year’ annually. Generally speaking, they
have been right on target, whether it was merlot or turquoise (each of which had
a year...look in the back of your closet).

This year, for the very first time, Pantone chose not one but two colors: Rose
quartz, which is a pale pink, and Serenity, a pale blue. Most of us immediately
thought of babies, but these colors don’t look infantile.

Either one would make a fantastic bespoke men’s shirt...or a glorious brocade
suit for a lady. Gender beliefs and sexism being what they are, my guess is we’ll
see a lot of men in Serenity...and damn few in Rose Quartz.

Discussions of this nature have bounced around since Pantone’s announcement,
and there’s a charming picture of a toddler­aged Teddy Roosevelt in an
adorable pink dress making the rounds on the blogs. I don’t know any mothers
who would feel comfortable going that route with their sons, but fashion is certainly
fickle, and stranger things have happened!

Color is also cultural, and the colors you favor will reflect that whether you
realize it or not. Feng shui practitioners use color to harmonize spaces, and so
do Scandinavian restaurant architects. And speaking of restaurants, have you noticed
that fast food places tend to be red or orange inside, while fine dining establishments
aren’t? Color matters.

As for me, I didn’t jump on green, my kitchen isn’t gray, and I don’t
feel a hankering for either Serenity or Rose Quartz. I’m going to put on a
pair of black slacks and a white shirt and go shopping for more of the same.

About the Author:Karen R. Smith is an award-winning journalist and publicist. Her book, "Stylishly
Sexy" is available online and she takes private style clients throughout Arizona
and across the country. Visit her at www.stylesmithtransformations.com